Volume Ii Part 17 (1/2)

The att.i.tude of a number of people is expressed in the old limerick:

As for looks I know I'm no star, There are men better looking by far; But my face I don't mind it For I am behind it.

It's the folks out in front that I jar.

It is worth while now and then to think of the ”folks out in front,” and pity for them, if no other feeling, should inspire one to be at all times as well dressed as is within the compa.s.s of one's means and ability.

MEN'S DRESS

In the morning when he goes out to business a man should wear a plain serviceable suit of the prevailing cut. If he is invited to an elaborate morning entertainment he may wear the regular cutaway coat and the usual accessories that go along with it. It is always best to follow the local customs with regard to dress and it is absurd for one man to appear at a formal morning affair in the cutaway coat when he knows that all of the other gentlemen present will be in their simple business suits.

For formal afternoon affairs the cutaway is worn while for dinner in the evening full dress is prescribed as it is for any formal entertainment which takes place after six o'clock. To informal garden parties and other similar affairs in the afternoon during the summer, flannels may be worn.

There are special sporting outfits designed for the man who golfs, plays tennis, rides or motors and the best guide to all of these is a reliable haberdasher. It is his business to keep up with the details of dress and since these are constantly in process of change it is obviously impossible for a book of etiquette to lay down precise rules as to what should be worn.

If a man is to escort a woman he should adapt his costume to hers. If she is to wear evening dress he should also, and if he is in doubt as to whether she is to wear evening dress or a simpler costume, he should ask her. In many cases it rests with the individual which shall be the order of the day.

WOMEN'S DRESS

The woman who goes to business must dress inconspicuously. Clean, freshly laundered white s.h.i.+rt waists with simple dark skirts form the best of outfits. But with laundry bills at prohibitive prices, a subst.i.tute must be found for them for the girl in moderate circ.u.mstances. For this reason it is more sensible to wear dark serge, silk, or satin fas.h.i.+oned into severely simple frocks relieved perhaps by white linen or organdie collars and cuffs.

The woman who entertains at home in the morning wears a simple frock of the sort in which she may appear on the street. Similarly, in the afternoon unless the occasion is an elaborate one, when she may wear an elegant reception gown or an informal tea, when she may wear one of the exquisite creations especially designed for such occasions.

There is a semi-evening dress which may be worn to afternoon affairs or to dinner and to all evening entertainments except very elaborate ones.

For these a woman's gown should be _decollete_ and should be of beautiful material. The color and design are at the discretion of the individual but it is well to remember that those which are simplest are most effective.

It is trite to remark that a woman's crowning glory is her hair, but it is true. The manner in which it is arranged should depend upon the kind of costume she is wearing. Only in the evening should she wear heavy bandeaux, aigrettes, etc.

Scattered about elsewhere in these volumes under the theater, etc., more details are given as to the proper kind of dress to wear. Remember this: it is always better to be underdressed than to be overdressed.

THE STORY OF DRESS

It is interesting to note how closely the history of dress parallels the history of civilization. With the awakening of shame came the virtue of modesty. With modesty came the desire for clothes, and clothes brought thoughts of higher ideals, wider desires than those merely of the animal. Out of the desire to cover the body grew the love of decoration, of beauty. Slowly, through the ages, as the love of beauty advanced and was cultivated, an artistic sense developed which is the very flower of our civilization.

Perhaps the most effective way to tell the story of dress is to make this very striking comparison. First let us go back to the time of the prehistoric cave-woman. In her breast the first thought of shame has stirred, and she makes for herself a covering--a dress. She makes it of the skin of a newly killed animal. It is raw and ugly and unpleasant.

But the owner feels naught but pride in its owners.h.i.+p, for it is a good skin, impervious alike to the ravages of sun and rain--and its style is exactly like that of the other women in the tribe.

Now let us stand for a moment on a corner of Fifth Avenue, New York's famous avenue of fas.h.i.+on. We see a modern young woman on her way to the theater. From the tips of her French-heeled slippers to the jaunty little hat on her head, she is--perfect. Her gown seems to express in every line the story of her own personality. The color-scheme might well have been invented by Mother Nature herself. The wrap she wears is of sable furs--but how different from the furs of her sister of ancient days! Each skin is exquisitely glossed and dressed, and the whole matched to perfection.

Another young woman pa.s.ses. She is differently attired in trig tailored suit and smart toque. A business girl. Also perfect. And countless others, streaming endlessly along the wide avenue, men and women, defying in the expression of their own taste and individuality, the decrees of fas.h.i.+on; interpreting silks, cottons, fabrics and furs to harmonize with their own particular personalities, and the story of civilization is told in the clothes they wear.

THE DAWN OF FAs.h.i.+ON

It was Cowper who said, ”While the world lasts, Fas.h.i.+on will lead it by the nose.” And really, hasn't Fas.h.i.+on been a stern monarch throughout the ages? It commanded the Chinese women to have tiny feet--and tiny feet they had to have although it meant months of torture to the young child. It commanded the monstrous ruff of the Elizabethan period, and decreed dignified wigs for the gentlemen of the Colonial days. It decided upon the mantle of the patriarch, the toga of the Roman, the fez of the Turk. Its endless whims and vagaries made the study of dress one of the most curious and fascinating in the world.

How was Fas.h.i.+on created, you ask? To answer thoroughly, we must once more go back to those distant cave-man days when dress itself had its inception. At first one simple costume for both men and women distinguished each tribe. There was nothing different in the way the skins were thrown over the body, no embellishments to render any one costume different from those worn by the others. Even at a relatively late date, uniformity of dress among people of one race was like a national characteristic; it was worn by all.